


Bully

by Trumpeteer34



Series: Prompt Fills [2]
Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Awesome Jarvis, Bruce Banner Feels, Bullying, Community: avengerkink, Dark!Coulson, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Poor Bruce, Team Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-20
Updated: 2013-07-20
Packaged: 2017-12-20 20:00:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/891266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trumpeteer34/pseuds/Trumpeteer34
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kinkmeme prompt: http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/15292.html?thread=34028988#t34028988</p><p>Bruce listened to all of the stories from his fellow Avengers, who all had befriended the SHIELD agent that had been struck down in the Chitauri invasion. When it is uncovered that Phil Coulson survived, they are all elated. </p><p> </p><p>  <i>Bruce hung back, allowing his teammates their reunion, with a small smile on his face. Something like serenity went through him to see these six people interacting so easily, despite the six month gap of lies. He didn’t want to interrupt this.</i></p><p> </p><p>  <i>Bruce’s smile widened minutely when Coulson’s eyes found him against the wall. The expression was short lived, however, when the brightness in the agent’s eyes immediately dimmed into something much different, and yet rather familiar to Bruce. The physicist blinked in surprise and felt his smile drop incrementally.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Bully

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own any of the named characters; they all belong to Marvel. This was written purely for fun.
> 
> Let me just say that I love Phil Coulson, I really do. This prompt just spoke to me.

It was Steve who found out. Six months after the Chitauri invasion, and a meager five and a half months after the funeral, the super soldier happened to overhear some talk while aboard the helicarrier for a meeting with Director Fury.

Agent Phil Coulson was alive. 

Reactions were mixed among the Avengers upon this news, ranging from jovial (Thor) to murderous (Natasha and Tony). Clint and Steve were elated and relieved that Coulson had survived, even if the news had been kept from them for so long. Bruce was relieved for the sake of his teammates, whom the SHIELD agent’s death had hit the hardest. During his brief time aboard the helicarrier, Bruce had never really gotten the chance to speak with the man that the other Avengers all cared deeply for. The past several months, after the funeral and when the initial grief had begun to fade, were filled with stories of their experiences with their previously-thought-to-be-fallen comrade. Bruce had nothing to contribute to these encounters, but he was always there to lend an ear, to learn about the man that had affected each of his teammates so profoundly in some shape or form.

So when Steve returned to the tower and relayed the information to the rest of them, it was quickly declared that they all pay a visit to Fury and demand to see Phil.

Which was exactly what they did.

As much as the Director strived to see the six of them assembled, he was not at all thrilled that they had assembled against him and SHIELD. He shot a one-eyed glare at Steve, who didn’t waver in the least. None of them did. 

After a brief stare-down, Fury finally relented. Agent Coulson had been cleared from medical after months of surgeries, and there were still several more months to go of physical therapy before he would be fit to return to active duty. As of a week ago, the man had been discharged with a treatment plan of pain killers and bed rest. 

It was in a haze of said medicines and having just woken up that the team, after six months of believing him to have been taken violently from them, finally got to see Phil. Even in his groggy state, he was able to smile at Thor’s hearty greeting and Natasha’s threats of retribution later when he was healed. He was able to make one or two witty replies to Tony’s remarks about the whole situation. He was able to lift the heavy weight from Clint’s shoulders that had been there for months with just a light squeeze of the archer’s hand, a physical confirmation that he was alive. There was even a brightness that had entered his eye when his gaze landed on Steve, his childhood idol.

Bruce hung back, allowing his teammates their reunion, with a small smile on his face. Something like serenity went through him to see these six people interacting so easily, despite the six month gap of lies. He didn’t want to interrupt this.

Bruce’s smile widened minutely when Coulson’s eyes found him against the wall. The expression was short lived, however, when the brightness in the agent’s eyes immediately dimmed into something much different, and yet rather familiar to Bruce. The physicist blinked in surprise and felt his smile drop incrementally. 

Before he had a chance to really analyze the look he had been given, Fury returned and shooed them from the room with the promise that they would be able to visit later, perhaps when his best agent wasn’t half-asleep and drugged out of his mind. Some of the others protested, but in the end agreed. 

On the trip back to the tower, there was animated conversation between five of them. Bruce only half-listened as he meticulously ran the pad of his thumb across the knuckles of his other hand. He stared absently out the window of the Quinjet, seeing the look that he had received in each passing cloud. 

_The man had been groggy and medicated…Bruce’s was an unfamiliar face amongst friends…He was the only one hanging back, so maybe…_

He pushed it to the back of his mind when the others drew him into their conversation.

==

In a few short days, Coulson was given a new assignment at the vehement suggestion of Tony Stark. Coulson arrived the following day with a few meager belongings and began his new position as a liaison between SHIELD and the Avengers. Thor and Tony dragged Bruce out of his laboratory to accompany them on the tour of the tower with their new glorified babysitter. Bruce complied rather reluctantly, as he was still trying to shake the look the agent had given him out of his head, but he joined the others. While they slowly traversed the tower, Bruce hung on the outskirts of the small group and remained silent, only half-listening to the discourse between the other six. 

Natasha seemed to be the only one of the team that noticed his discomfort. When Bruce caught her eye, she raised an eyebrow. He offered a miniscule shrug and a smile; he wasn’t even sure why he felt uneasy. The Other Guy had long ago become attuned to Bruce’s emotions, and while he wasn’t actively trying to escape from his fleshy prison, he was lurking just below the surface, watching. 

It really didn’t come as any surprise to him that Natasha was so attuned to his emotions. It was no secret that the Hulk still made her uneasy. They were able to communicate civilly, but that incident in the helicarrier those many months ago continued to replay in their minds.

The tour concluded outside of Coulson’s new abode. The agent looked worn out from their brief stint around the different floors, and decided to turn in for a while. As the others dispersed, a shortly voiced “Dr. Banner” made Bruce halt in his tracks. The others paused as well and looked back.

Bruce turned and offered Coulson a polite smile. “Yes?” 

Coulson returned the smile. “I was hoping to speak with you in private about my medicines,” he replied in that same warm, calm manner he used with everyone. He opened the door and motioned the physicist inside as the others continued to wander off. “The others seem insistent that I look to you as our in-house doctor.”

The uneasiness that had been flowing quite readily through his veins relaxed a little, and Bruce chuckled quietly. “I’m not sure where they got the idea that I’m licensed to play medic, in all honesty…” he answered as he entered the room. 

“It was a topic of discussion during the tour, Dr. Banner.” With a light _click_ , the door closed behind them and they stepped further into the suite. Coulson seemed to give the physicist a wide berth as he moved to the living room arrangement. As he lowered himself into an armchair, his eyes returned to Bruce, who had remained standing on the other side of the sofa. “Although, you did seem a little distracted. Isn’t it a bit irresponsible of you to allow yourself to zone out, what with that thing inside of you?”

It felt like a slap across the face. The same expression that had made Bruce pause while aboard the helicarrier was placed on him again in conjunction with those words, and the physicist froze to the spot. He returned the gaze, sure that he looked a little confused. “Uh…?”

Coulson leaned back in his chair minutely, but his posture still screamed government dominance. “I was honestly a bit surprised when Director Fury told me that you had remained in New York to continue working with the Avengers. Given your track record, I would have assumed that you would have hopped the first plane out of the US to remove yourself from such a populated area. You are a threat, Banner; you need to remember that so the monster doesn’t take a moment of your weakness to use to his advantage.”

The words, spoken in the agent’s normal manner of speech, sliced deep into Bruce and began to beat away at the self-confidence that had begun to build since he had met the others. No words sprung to mind for several seconds as he simply stared at the agent, his face a mixture of surprise, disappointment, and hurt. His eyes, however, remained a solid brown. “Excuse me…?” he asked when he was capable of speech again, hoping this was all just some great misunderstanding.

“We don’t want another Harlem incident because you couldn’t remain focused, Banner,” Coulson summarized with military-like precision.

An incredulous laugh escaped from Bruce’s throat. “I have a bit more control than that, Agent Coulson,” he answered firmly, sounding more assured than he actually felt on the topic.

“I hope for New York’s sake you do,” Coulson replied. “Please remain more vigilant.”

It was a dismissal if he had ever heard one. He stared at the agent for a moment longer as his lips tightened and he gave a single nod, letting his eyes fall away. “Okay,” he replied softly before he turned and exited the suite.

As he wandered slowly away from the room toward the elevator, his mind was replaying Coulson’s words on an unending loop, pulling each sentence apart, analyzing each word, searching for truth and validity in his words. He didn’t realize the others were in the living room he had just entered until one of them spoke up, snapping him from his thoughts and making him jump.

Clint’s hands lifted in a calming manner, though there was a smirk on his face. “Easy there, Bruce. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

Bruce realized belatedly that the archer had said something to him when he had entered the room. “Sorry, I…” For whatever reason, his eyes met with Natasha’s. There was a distinct hardness in her eyes, akin to the look he had received from Coulson; she was still terribly wary of the Hulk, and by extension, him. 

A pang went through him and he swallowed. “Sorry. I’ll, um… E-Excuse me.” Before any of the others could say anything, he retreated. There was a questioning growl in his head, low and almost like a hum. It was his distress that awoke the Hulk, not the moment where he had been startled. Bruce knew full and well that the Other Guy wouldn’t react to him being startled (not anymore, anyway…), and that he had a better hold on him than that. 

He quashed down the presence of the other in his mind and strived to keep a better tally on what went on around him, even within the safety of the tower. If it made the others less wary, he could handle it.

==

Within the next few weeks, in which Coulson had been kept busy with physical therapy and various doctor appointments aboard the helicarrier, it became apparent that another surgery would need to be done. The agent told the Avengers during a team meeting that he was due for surgery the following morning and would be staying aboard the aircraft for a few days to recover.

“You know that you can stay here during your recovery period, right?” Tony asked. He turned in his swivel chair to look at Bruce. “You wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on him, would you?”

Bruce looked up from his notes over to Tony. “You all do remember that I am not actually a licensed doctor, right?”

“But you’ve done medical stuff for us before,” Clint pressed. “You’re a great doctor, way better than anyone at SHIELD, I’ll tell you that.”

“I will be staying aboard the helicarrier,” Coulson said again, cutting into the conversation with practiced ease. The rest of the team glanced back at him at the head of the table. The agent put a smile on and looked at Bruce. “I’m sure Dr. Banner has better things to do with his time than look after me.”

Bruce forced his eyes away from the agent and glanced back down at his notes.

“We’re coming to visit you, then,” Natasha said, her voice leaving no room for argument.

“Damn straight, we are,” Clint agreed. “There’s nothing worse than sitting up in SHIELD medical for days on end.”

“Well, the offer still stands,” Tony said. “If things get boring up there, even boring for _you,_ you’re welcome to recover here.”

Coulson put on an indulgent smile. “I’ll keep that in mind, Mr. Stark.” He paused to glance down at his notes. “Now then, to the actual meeting…”

The meeting lasted for maybe twenty minutes, and after they were dismissed, Bruce hung back. He watched each of his teammates leave the room before he drew a fortifying breath. “Agent Coulson,” he said.

Coulson glanced up from his paperwork to look at Bruce. That familiar cold look became immediately apparent in his eyes. “Yes, Dr. Banner?” he asked, turning the full force of his attention back to his paperwork.

Bruce watched him for a moment. “About your surgery,” he began quietly. “If…If you wanted to stay here during your recovery, I’d be happy to look after you.” The lie felt all wrong coming out of his mouth, but if it made the team happy, he’d put his unease to the back of his mind.

The agent paused in his perusal of his paperwork, and then slowly turned his focus onto Bruce. The physicist forced himself not to squirm under the harsh attention. “You’ve said it yourself, Banner,” Coulson said after a momentary stare-down, “you are not a licensed doctor.” Coulson returned his attention to his paperwork. “You shouldn’t be looking after anyone, let alone my team.”

“They ask me to patch them up,” Bruce cut in. “You don’t need a doctorate in medicine to change bandages.”

“But you _do_ for some of the things you’ve done while on the run,” Coulson shot back without looking up. “If those people had known just _what_ was treating them, would they have ever let you come near them? If they had had a real doctor, would some of the ones who died have lived?”

The pause allowed the harsh words to sink in. Bruce’s mouth felt dry; his eyes remained on the agent even when Coulson looked back up at him. The agent’s eyes studied the physicist for a moment. “Then again,” Coulson continued, “considering how many people you’ve killed, I’d say practicing medicine without a license is the least of your worries.”

A nauseous feeling swept over Bruce, but his eyes remained locked on Coulson. He couldn’t find the will to speak, because he had no right to defend himself from the truth.

Coulson scrutinized the man across from him for a moment longer before he returned his eyes to the folder before him. “I’m not letting you come near me, Banner,” he said casually. “You’re a beast of destruction; how could you ever help someone heal?”

With painful difficulty, Bruce swallowed and finally looked away to the floor at his feet.

“And I don’t want you patching up the Avengers anymore, either. They’ll report to SHIELD medical, like they know they’re supposed to,” Coulson continued. “Understood?”

Bruce nodded slowly in jerky movements. “Understood.”

“Good,” Coulson replied.

Bruce nodded to himself once, and then found the willpower to turn and walk out of the room. He tried to quiet the Hulk in his head, who had begun to get restless when Bruce had elected to stay behind to speak with Coulson. He didn’t know why the agent’s words made him angry; they were true. Why _would_ anyone go to him to seek medical attention when they knew what he was? Had the people he helped in various countries known what he was, would they have even asked for his assistance? Would they have even accepted help from a monster?

_“Dr. Banner?”_

Bruce jumped when JARVIS’s voice spoke up. He glanced around and realized his feet had taken him to the lab that Tony had built him. He snorted bitterly; he had let his mind wander again. So much for vigilance…

_“Doctor?”_

“Yes, JARVIS?” Bruce asked, suddenly feeling weary.

 _“If I may, you have handled seeing to your teammate’s wounds with the utmost care,”_ the AI commented, which made Bruce freeze. _“Sir has always been reluctant to seek first aid; he has been more open to receiving proper medical treatment from you. I fear he will return to his ways should you stop offering your services.”_

Bruce remained where he stood, eyes trained in the distance. He took a shaky breath and ran a hand over his face. “You heard what Agent Coulson said?” he asked slowly.

 _“Indeed, sir. I also heard what Agent Coulson said to you the day he arrived.”_ Bruce cringed at the thought. The AI was quiet for a moment before he continued with some hesitancy. _“I…understand that Agent Coulson has a superior rank to everyone on the team, sir, but I know Sir and the rest of the Avengers would appreciate it if you continued to see to them, should they approach you in need of medical assistance.”_

That startled Bruce. His head jerked up. “They’re supposed to go to SHIELD, JARVIS,” he explained softly. “I…I’m not licensed.”

 _“If I may, sir, you don’t need a doctorate in medicine to change bandages.”_ A small smile tugged on Bruce’s lips at the repetition of his own words. _“I won’t say a word to Agent Coulson, and I’m sure the rest of the team won’t either.”_

Bruce remained quiet for a lingering moment, letting JARVIS’s words tumble around in his head. His throat felt tight as he swallowed around the lump that seemed to be lodged there. “Thank you, JARVIS,” he finally said, the words soft.

_“You are most welcome, Dr. Banner.”_

The physicist nibbled on his bottom lip for a second before he continued. “Can I ask a favor?”

_“Certainly, sir.”_

“Please don’t mention anything that Agent Coulson has said to me to the others,” Bruce requested quietly.

The AI was silent for a lingering moment. _“Even though he has been treating you most poorly?”_

Bruce cringed again and let his eyes fall to the floor. “Especially because of that.”

_“May I ask why?”_

His left hand unconsciously began to run over his right. “You weren’t there, JARVIS…” he began softly. “You weren’t there to see how happy they were when they saw Coulson on the helicarrier. You’ve seen how much happier they’ve been now that he lives here. I…I don’t want to do anything to take that away from them. If Coulson makes them happy, I’ll deal with it. Please, don’t tell them.”

Another silence permeated through the lab. Bruce remained where he stood and didn’t look up, simply waiting for the AI’s response.

_“If that is your wish, Dr. Banner.”_

Bruce let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Thank you.”

 

==

Late that night, they were called to assemble. While they were on their way to the location, Coulson informed the rest of the group that should they get injured, they were to follow protocol and seek medical attention from SHIELD. “It is not Dr. Banner’s job to play medic,” he gave as an explanation.

The mission didn’t call for the Hulk. Instead, Bruce remained on the quinjet with Coulson and a laptop, working his way through layer after layer of coding JARVIS sent back from the Iron Man suit to find an effective way of shutting down the robots that were attacking the city they were hovering over. With his focus solely on the mission, it was easy to ignore that Coulson was there at all. The rest of the team was working tirelessly to keep the robots from killing pedestrians and from doing more property damage than they had already caused.

Within three minutes of JARVIS sending back another wave of data, Bruce broke into the system that was powering the robots. The physicist severed the controls, and within minutes, the rest of the robots were destroyed. All-in-all, the mission was a complete success.

The team flew to the helicarrier for their debriefing. Before they met up with Fury for the meeting, however, Coulson told them to go to the medical bay if they were injured. No one left the group, so the meeting went on without delay.

They left Coulson aboard the aircraft for his surgery the following day. It was on the jet ride home that Tony approached Bruce. The engineer sat down next to the physicist and pushed back his sleeve to reveal a nasty looking cut just above his elbow. “What do you think, doc? Will I live?”

Bruce sighed good-naturedly and reached under the seat for the first aid kit. “Why didn’t you go to the medical bay like Agent Coulson asked?”

“I don’t like any of them touching me. You’re way nicer than them; you have a gentle touch,” Tony immediately answered, not even bothering to watch as Bruce expertly cleaned the cut before he started adding stitches. “And you know you don’t have to be so formal with his name, right? Just Coulson or Phil will do, or you could even call him Agent like I do, he loves that. No need for the whole _Agent Coulson_ thing.”

Bruce paused for half a second before he continued to stitch the wound. “A gentle touch?” he repeated, deciding to not say anything about Coulson.

“Did you really get wounded?” Natasha’s voice broke into their conversation. Both scientists glanced toward the front of the jet, where the assassin was watching them. “You should have gone to medical.”

Tony scoffed. “As if you haven’t gone to Bruce instead of SHIELD before.”

Steve leaned forward in his seat. “Bruce, you do know that it isn’t your responsibility to patch us up, right?”

What felt like the first genuine smile he’d had in days crossed his face. “I know, Steve,” he answered as he returned his attention to Tony’s stitched up wound. “I’m happy to help.” He paused, and then added hesitantly “…so long as Coulson doesn’t know, I’d be more than happy to keep helping like this.” He wasn’t sure if he should be asking them to keep secrets from Coulson; he certainly didn’t feel good about it.

The feeling of guilt was rapidly squashed down when Clint let out a whoop from the pilot’s seat. “If keeping a few secrets from Phil means we don’t have to go to the med bay, doc, I’m all for it.”

“Keep your eyes on the control,” Natasha admonished with a smirk as she smacked the back of the archer’s head. That got a laugh out of Steve and Thor.

And just like that, the tension that had been held in Bruce’s body for hours now drained out of him.

==

So it continued for the next few weeks. Bruce did what he could to stay away from Coulson, and the others were none-the-wiser. Each encounter with the agent left Bruce feeling worse and worse, but he kept up his façade when the others were around. They could talk civilly to one another if one of the other Avengers was in the same room; it was when they were alone that the brutal comments began. Not once did the physicist argue back. He simply took the harsh words, and then left the room when he was dismissed.

With each barbed word Coulson spoke, however, the louder the growls in his head became. It was abundantly clear that the Hulk hated the agent with a passion, and Bruce prayed that the two would never meet.

The stress of living in the tower was skyrocketing, what with the Hulk’s hatred and Coulson’s biting remarks. He was losing sleep, and when he was able to succumb to slumber, it was plagued with nightmares. He had initially had terrible nightmares that had started about a week into his stay in the tower, which had led to some really close calls with the Hulk. Tony had sped up the construction of the Hulk-proof room, and Bruce had made use of it on more than one occasion when he had woken up too far gone to do anything more than get himself into the room before he totally lost it. He hadn’t used the room in a few solid months, as once he got accustomed to living in New York, the nightmares dissipated. 

But with Coulson’s increasingly scathing remarks about Bruce, each insult, each threat of what would happen should he lose control, it was inevitable that the nightmares would resurface with a vengeance. Bruce was able to keep himself in check the first few times he awoke with sweat on his brow and a shriek on his lips, but they steadily got worse. When he had a moment alone from the team, he asked JARVIS if the room was still at the ready should he need it. It hadn’t gotten to that point yet, but it felt like it was only a matter of time.

Bruce had managed to talk his way out of watching a movie with the team one night in lieu of heading to bed early. Tony and Clint looked like they had wanted to argue, but they kept their comments to themselves. Instead, they said that he looked tired, and maybe the few extra hours would do him some good. Bruce knew that he had dark circles under his eyes and that he probably looked like a mess, but he didn’t care at that point. He was tired. He was so very, very tired.

He didn’t remember the nightmare that made him shoot awake at three in the morning. The noise that tore from his throat was a mix between his scream and the Hulk’s roar, shattering the silence of the room. The Hulk was bellowing in his head, fighting to get free to destroy whatever he had dreamt. Bruce fought against the sheets that had tangled around his thrashing limbs and rolled out of bed. Once free from his confines, he made a mad dash to the Hulk-proof room. His body was screaming in pain as he fought tooth and nail against the transformation with all of his might.

Bruce just barely made it into the room before the Hulk finally broke free.

==

The first thing Bruce noticed when he started coming to was how cold the floor was beneath his naked body. The second thing was that someone had spread a blanket over him while he was unconscious.

A groan escaped from him and he forced himself to open his eyes. Everything was blurry, and it took several rapid blinks before his vision cleared up enough to get a good look at his surroundings.

The room was trashed. The walls had held up wonderfully, but the junk that Tony had put in the room for the Hulk to smash was completely obliterated. 

“Nightmare?”

Bruce flinched at the sound of Tony’s voice coming from somewhere behind him. He carefully pushed himself onto his back, biting back another groan when his muscles protested, and peered over at the engineer.

The man looked like he had just rolled out of bed. He probably had, if the pajama bottoms and muscle shirt were anything to go by.

Bruce opened his mouth to apologize for waking him up, but his throat was raw. He coughed to clear it, and then winced. “Sorry,” he croaked in a whisper.

Tony waved off the apology. “You haven’t had a nightmare this bad in a long time,” he commented. He watched Bruce struggle to swallow before he carefully pulled the man into a seated position beside him. He pushed a bottle of water into Bruce’s shaky hand. “Big Green was really pissed and really vocal tonight.”

Bruce took a tentative sip of the water, relishing how the cool fluid soothed his burning throat. “Did he wake everyone up?” he rasped painfully.

Tony nodded and gestured toward the observation window, constructed with reinforced glass. “Yeah, and I don’t think he was happy to see any of us.”

Following Tony’s gaze, Bruce found most of the junk lying on the floor below the window. Suddenly, he had a green-tinted vision of what could have been a car bumper smashing against the glass, angry eyes locked on Coulson and a roar tearing its way out of him.

Bruce shivered and pulled the blanket tighter around him.

“So,” Tony began, breaking the physicist from the memory, “nightmare?”

After a moment of silence, Bruce forced himself to nod. “Don’t remember what about,” he mumbled, and then took another sip of water. His brow furrowed and he turned a cautious look to Tony. “Time?” he asked.

“It’s like five something,” Tony replied. “C’mon, let’s get you back to bed.” He pulled Bruce to his feet, drawing one of Bruce’s arms over his shoulders. “Everyone else went back to sleep about half an hour ago.”

“You should’ve too,” Bruce said, even as he sagged into Tony’s side.

“And what, just leave you here on the cold floor? No way,” Tony replied as he dragged Bruce out of the room with him.

The two scientists continued through the tower in a comfortable hush. Once they got to Bruce’s room, Tony went through the man’s dresser until he found a pair of pajama bottoms. He tossed them to Bruce, and then very pointedly turned around. Bruce slowly pulled them on, mindful of his sore body.

“Oh,” Tony broke the silence, “Phil mentioned wanting to talk to you about this.”

Bruce immediately tensed and froze to the spot, and his mind, which had been blessedly quiet until that point, was filled with a low snarl.

When Bruce failed to say anything, Tony turned around. At the look on Bruce’s face, he held up his hands. “Hey, relax,” he said. “We talked to him. He hasn’t experienced Mean Green like we have. He knows not to come bothering you until you’ve slept and eaten. It won’t be until like seven o’clock tonight.”

It was a small silver lining, at least. Bruce didn’t think he could handle another onslaught from Coulson right now, not while he was this tired and sore. He forced himself to relax and he offered the other man a nod. “Alright.” He hoped that didn’t come out sounding like he was a man on his way to meet his executioner.

He guessed it didn’t, because Tony grinned and clapped him on a bare shoulder. “Get some sleep, Big Guy. JARVIS, keep the sunlight out.” The windows immediately darkened, hiding the hints of sunrise in the world beyond the tower’s walls.

It wasn’t until Bruce was alone in the room again, blankets pulled over his aching body and on the cusp of slumber, that JARVIS spoke up. _“Dr. Banner?”_

“…yeah?” Bruce replied in a sleepy murmur.

_“Are you alright?”_

“…yeah,” he lied.

 

==

“You had a _nightmare?”_

Bruce let Coulson’s voice wash over him without looking away from the point on the far wall his gaze was fixed to. It was about a quarter to eight at night, and his body was still feeling the effects of the unwarranted transformation. 

Coulson stood on the other side of the conference table, his eyes locked on the man before him. When the physicist neglected to answer, the agent let out a tiny breath of irritation. “You lost control because you had a bad dream. What if you had brought down the tower and killed everyone?”

“I always make it to the safe room before the transformation is complete,” Bruce replied softly.

Coulson’s eyebrows rose as he studied Bruce in mild disbelief. “And it’s not the first time this has happened, apparently…”

Bruce tried to stifle the urge to cringe and his eyes unwillingly went to Coulson. He hadn’t meant to let that slip. His eyes followed the agent as he sat down in the swivel chair and leaned back. 

Rocking back slowly in the chair, Coulson scrutinized the man before him. “Well, what was it, then? Memories of the people you killed?”

The air left his lungs. Bruce felt his hands clench into fists.

“Your so-called _accident?”_

The Hulk began to growl lowly in his mind, and Bruce drew a long breath in through his nose. He glanced at the wall over Coulson’s head.

“Or maybe it hit a little closer to home,” Coulson continued, never looking away from the physicist. “Maybe it was the murder of a mother—” Bruce looked back sharply. “—or maybe it was the reminder that you were a monster long before you shot yourself with gamma radiation.” He studied Bruce’s tormented and grief-stricken face without a hint of compassion. “Or maybe all of the above. After all, it all kind of leads back to how troubled you’ve always been. If it weren’t for your, shall we say, _unique_ abilities, you would never have a place on this team. A monster like you is bad enough; add on that that beast is mentally unstable, and it’s a whole different ballgame.”

Bruce could hardly find the strength to breathe. The being in his head had surged forward at the mention of his mother and father, and was now a constant presence in the back of his mind, growls interspersed with snarls.

“So which was it?” Coulson asked. “What led to you utterly losing control over yourself in the middle of the night?”

No words jumped to his tongue. Bruce could only stare at the man in anguished silence.

“Well,” the agent went on after a prolonged quiet, “at least you had the common sense get yourself to your cage this time.” A spike of anger went through Bruce at the hated word. “You need to get your act together. If you can’t, SHIELD has another cage to hold you until you can act like the asset you are.”

An enraged growl ripped through his mind, and Bruce fought to keep a growl of his own to himself. His eyes lowered to the floor. “I made it to the room,” he bit out. “Everything was fine.”

“The beast tried to smash the team and I through the glass,” Coulson deadpanned.

 _‘Not team,’_ the Hulk snarled in his head, _‘just you.’_

“Everything was _not_ fine,” the agent finished. “The world needs this team, Banner, but if you can’t get your act straight, don’t think that SHIELD will hesitate to lock you away like the monster you are. Just because Ross failed to do it doesn’t mean that we will. If you mess up again, there _will_ be repercussions. Do I make myself clear?”

Bruce studied the floor around his feet. His alter ego was prowling around in his mind, growling and snarling and _hating_ the other man. Still, the physicist forced himself to nod, but didn’t lift his eyes. “Yes, sir.”

==

It felt like it had been a while since a mission called for the Hulk, at _least_ a few months. It had been maybe a week since Bruce had transformed in the wake of some awful nightmare. There hadn’t been any more early morning Hulk alarms, thankfully, but it was obvious that the physicist was still having trouble sleeping. Something had been stressing him out lately, and Tony didn’t know what.

That stress only fueled the Hulk on the battlefield. The green goliath was the very embodiment of the word ‘rage.’ The angrier the Hulk was, the less articulate he became; instead of the simple speech he had been starting to use with the team, he was back to grunts and snarls and roars. He didn’t speak to anyone and just focused on taking his rage out on the aliens that had decided to invade that day.

It was a fairly straight-forward fight, at least from Tony’s point of view. It didn’t seem like the invaders had done their homework, as they were getting whipped. Once that message became clear to them, they retreated back to their ship and left the atmosphere, leaving their dead and dying behind.

“Well, that went well,” Tony said into the radio as he hovered in mid-air. He watched the Hulk roar at the retreating threat, his eyes following the big guy as he jumped from the building he was on. Tony’s eyes stayed on the goliath in his newly made crater in the road for a moment before the engineer began to look for Clint. “Any stragglers, Bird Feathers?”

“None that I can see,” Clint replied, opting to ignore the nickname. “Can I get a lift back to street-level?”

“Comin’ right up,” Tony said, finally spying the archer. He zipped up to the rooftop where Clint was standing, eyes still on the move. “So—”

He was cut off mid-sentence when the Hulk let out a furious yell. He saw Clint pale and immediately reach for an arrow. Tony turned to see what was going on just in time to see the Hulk storming at Coulson, who had just arrived with the rest of SHIELD. The engineer felt like the air had been kicked out of his lungs and instantly shot off toward the Hulk.

The Hulk came to an abrupt stop when Captain America’s shield hit him square in the temple, throwing him off his path. With a biting snarl, the goliath whipped around to Steve, who nimbly caught his shield as he placed himself between the Hulk and Phil. Tony had never seen the super soldier look so angry.

“ _No,_ Hulk,” he shouted. “You do _not_ smash Phil.”

A low growl sounded from the giant green man and he lowered himself, as if he was getting ready to pounce. His hard green eyes were locked on Coulson and his face remained in a feral snarl.

His focus shifted when Thor landed behind Steve, followed swiftly by Tony. They all stood with their backs to Phil, facing off against the Hulk in what they hoped wouldn’t become a full-blown fist-fight.

Tony could hardly believe that this was actually happening. He watched the Hulk consider each of his teammates individually, still poised to strike, his hands clenching and unclenching in barely contained rage. The engineer didn’t dare turn away to see what Phil looked like, but he had no doubt that he was as unruffled as ever.

The HUD in his helmet caught the motion of Clint grappling his way down to the street and Natasha rushing over. When she disappeared from his immediate view, he knew that she was standing next to Phil.

Finally, the Hulk stood up straighter and took a step back. Another growl sounded from deep in his chest as his eyes landed on each of them in turn.

Clint ran up to the group, looking like he was absolutely ready to fight the Hulk to the death. “What the _hell,_ Hulk?!”

The Hulk snarled at him, but made no other movements.

The archer stepped forward and stood his ground. “What the hell did Phil ever do to you, huh?! You do _not_ get to bully him!”

The Hulk immediately went silent. He stared down at Clint with wide eyes before he glanced at each of his teammates again.

Suddenly, something in his expression changed, and a low, mournful noise escaped from the goliath. He took a step away from them, and then another, and then finally fully turned and leapt away.

All they could do was stare after the Hulk as he rapidly grew smaller with distance, that sound echoing in their heads.

“What…?” Tony absently heard Clint mumble.

“Tony.” Phil’s soft-spoken voice snapped the engineer from his daze. Tony turned to look at the agent. “Go after him. Make sure he doesn’t destroy anything else.”

Tony only nodded before he left his confused teammates behind and took to the skies. He followed the Hulk’s retreating figure, who was strangely silent.

By the time he caught up with him, the Hulk had hidden himself in an alley and was already shrinking down. When Tony landed, he was completely Bruce again, trembling and drawing shaky breaths. “Bruce?”

Bruce remained where he was on the ground. He opened his eyes to look at Tony.

Tony felt his heart clench painfully when he saw the tears gathered in his friend’s eyes. “Bruce, what—?”

Bruce’s eyes shut and he promptly collapsed in exhaustion.

==

It was only a couple of hours later when Bruce started to wake up in increments. He normally slept longer after a battle; as he awoke, he felt the full aftereffects of a rough transformation. His body felt over-sensitive and heavy. But it wasn’t any of that that actually awoke him.

It was the low, lamentable sounds of despair the Hulk was making in his head. 

Bruce felt his eyes tear up and, despite how much it hurt, rolled over onto his side and curled into a ball. One shaky hand fisted the sheet he was lying under while the other went to his head in an attempt to soothe his forlorn alter ego. 

Memories filtered into the physicist’s mind. Images of Coulson standing there and nothing but rage and hatred filling his very soul. Images of Steve, then Thor, Tony, Natasha, and then Clint, all rushing over to stand between him and Coulson, looking as furious as he had ever seen them. His team, standing together against him to protect Coulson from the Hulk’s wrath. 

The word _bully_ being spat from the archer’s lips.

And then sheer hopelessness. Hulk couldn’t protect Banner from the suited man. Team turned against them. No hope of fighting the man who made Banner hurt and sad and angry and scared. No hope.

The tears slipped past his closed eyelids and Bruce drew a shuddering breath. “I can’t do this,” he whispered, his voice almost drowned out by another depressed croon from the Hulk. He forced his watery eyes open and lifted himself from the bed. “I can’t do this anymore…”

==

Several hours later, and the team was still arguing. 

"He does _not_ need to be contained!” Tony yelled at Phil for what felt like the millionth time since they had gotten back to the tower.

After Tony had radioed back to the team that Bruce was back, the agent had ordered Tony to take him up to the helicarrier for containment. The communication line was dead silent for a moment before Tony had managed to growl out a “what?” Once Phil had repeated the order without any sort of hesitancy in his voice, everyone else on the team had immediately objected. Tony blatantly disobeyed the order and flew Bruce back to the tower himself and put him to bed. Bruce hadn’t stirred once during the entire trip.

The other five Avengers were now with Phil in one of the conference rooms. Phil calmly stared straight back at the engineer. “Dr. Banner clearly does not have control,” he said. “First the transformation in the middle of the night, a result of a _nightmare,_ and now this? He’s going to kill someone.”

“Friend Banner has far more control than you give him credit for,” Thor replied. “I do not know what made the Green One desire to attack you today, but rest assured, he has not done that in the past.”

Clint gestured wildly at the God of Thunder. “And Hulk used to _hate_ Thor! He’s learning, Phil. He just hasn’t learned that you’re a good guy yet.”

“And that’s supposed to protect the public? Does he need to know each person in order to learn who not to smash?” Coulson shot back.

“You know that he can distinguish the difference between an innocent and a target,” Natasha finally spoke up for the first time since the battle. Everyone in the room looked at her, all of them clearly surprised that she was standing up for the Hulk. Her eyes were locked on Coulson. “You read all of the debriefings from the past missions we’ve done. You know that the Hulk hasn’t killed an innocent bystander in years.”

“Phil,” Steve cut in quietly, “I don’t know what made him snap today, but he isn’t normally like that. We need him here.”

“Y’know, that’s a good idea,” Tony broke in. Everyone glanced his way as he continued. “Maybe Bruce has some idea why Big Green wanted to smash Phil. He should probably be awake by now.” A glance down at the phone on the tabletop confirmed that it had been long enough for Bruce to sleep off his normal post-transformation exhaustion. 

_“Dr. Banner stepped out several hours ago, sir,”_ JARVIS interrupted.

That made everyone pause, and the room went silent. Tony glanced back at the time. “What do you mean, _several hours?_ Did he sleep at all?”

_“Dr. Banner slept for roughly two hours before he left the tower.”_

“And why didn’t you speak up when he left?” Phil asked with the slightest hint of anger under his tone.

 _“I was under the impression Dr. Banner had the same right as everyone else in this tower to come and go as they please,”_ JARVIS responded.

The tone in which the AI spoke would seem normal to anyone else, but Tony, who designed him, could hear the frosty undertone as clear as day. Suddenly, something felt very, very wrong. “J, did he say where he was going?”

There was a pause. _“No, but I believe he is on his way to any of these locations, given his recent internet searches.”_ A screen on the far wall lit up, and Tony felt his eyes widen and a curse fall from his lips.

A map of the Earth was displayed on the wall with several countries highlighted in yellow. Next to the map was a cascade of internet windows with information on flights from New York to each different country, along with departure times, all of which had long since passed.

Each of the Avengers stared at the map in dawning panic, trying to figure out how far Bruce could have gotten in the time they had thought he was asleep. 

They were broken from their thoughts by a snort from Phil. Tony slowly turned around and stared at the SHIELD agent, who was looking over the map. “I guess he realized he’s dangerous after all,” he said. 

A slow, burning anger was beginning to build in the engineer’s stomach. “What did you do to him?” he asked in a low growl.

Coulson turned to address him. “You know he’s a threat, Stark,” he said. “Why else would you have built a cage in your tower? He’s just fi—”

“That room is _not_ a cage,” Tony interrupted the agent with a snarl. “I had that room built for his peace of mind. Bruce is _not_ a threat, and has _never_ been considered a threat since he started living under this roof.”

“That thing is dangerous—”

 _“That thing_ saved my life!” Tony shouted.

“And countless others!” Thor jumped in, his enraged voice booming.

Coulson glanced around the room at the others. “Has the beast really convinced you that it’s safe?”

“Are you referring to Bruce, or the Hulk?” Natasha asked. Her voice was as controlled as ever, but the glare she was giving the agent would have killed lesser men. Coulson was silent, simply returning the assassin’s glare with a mild gaze of his own. The silence lingered for several moments, each passing second making Natasha’s glare colder and colder.

“You’ve been calling him a monster, haven’t you?” It took Tony a moment to realize that it was Clint who had spoken. A glance over at the archer revealed that Clint was still staring at Coulson, looking absolutely devastated. “Did you threaten Bruce with the cage on the helicarrier?”

“Are you the reason why he’s been so stressed out lately?” Natasha inquired icily. “Are you the reason why the Hulk has been so out of control lately?”

“What else have you done to poison his mind?” Thor growled.

Coulson looked at each of them in turn. He still looked very much in control of himself, but they could tell that he was surprised. His eyes landed on Steve, who was looking at the map again. “Captain, it’s abundantly clear the kind of danger he poses. Surely you understand—”

“Agent Coulson,” Steve cut him off. He turned and glared at the SHIELD agent; there was a myriad of emotions going through his eyes, from disgust and disapproval to betrayal and fury. “The only thing _abundantly clear_ about this whole situation is that you’ve been bullying him. And if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s bullies.”

The captain’s words slapped an expression of shocked disbelief on Coulson’s face. He stared over at his idol in stunned silence.

“Get your things,” Tony finally said in a low voice, breaking the tense quiet in the room, “and _get out.”_

Another silence overcame the group, so tense it was smothering. Coulson stared at Tony, and Tony glared straight back with unrelenting fury. The others remained where they stood, all of them facing Coulson and none of them budging an inch.

Finally, the agent offered a single nod. “Very well,” he said, sounding exactly the same as he always had. He calmly stepped around the table and around each of the Avengers who stood between him and the door. “You’d better hope that you find him before Ross or SHIELD does.”

With that, he left the room, closing the door behind him.

As soon as the door was shut, Tony turned to glare at the map on the wall. “JARVIS, sever all of his access codes to the tower as soon as he is outside. I never want to see him within a hundred feet of this building again.”

 _“Yes, sir,”_ the AI replied, sounding absolutely pleased with the command.

“Why would he run?” Thor wondered aloud mournfully as he took in the map again, at the different highlighted countries. “Why would he not tell us of this, that he was being treated so poorly?”

Clint let out an anguished groan and began pacing the room, his hands hiding his face. “I called him a _bully…”_

Tony watched the archer for a second longer before he returned his eyes to the map. “JARVIS, how long has this been going on?”

The question silenced everyone in the room. Clint stopped pacing and let his hands fall away from his face to instead stare forlornly at one of the highlighted countries on the map.

The AI hesitantly answered. _“Dr. Banner asked me to not tell any of you anything regarding himself and Agent Coulson.”_

“J,” Tony said wearily, “we already know that he’s been bullying Bruce. How long has it been going on?”

JARVIS remained quiet for a moment. _“Since Agent Coulson first moved in.”_

Several different curses were muttered around the room.

“Three months,” Clint growled. “He’s been going through this for _three months._ Why on earth didn’t he say anything?!”

“He saw how happy we were when Coulson came back,” Natasha answered softly. The others glanced her way as she continued. “He watched us grieve, he listened to all of our stories, he saw how happy we were in that hospital room. And we all know Bruce would never do something that would take away our happiness.”

“Even at the cost of his own?” Thor asked, but he already knew the answer; they all did.

Another heavy silence fell between the five Avengers. 

Tony finally approached the map and enlarged the windows with the flight information. “JARVIS, search every airport security system. Search names, run facial recognition, _everything._ We’re bringing him home.”

==

The night had passed without a lick of success. Bruce had either expertly disguised himself (which was absolutely in the realm of possibilities) or he had decided on a completely different flight once he had gotten to the airport. Once JARVIS had scanned through all of the data from the information gathered from Bruce’s internet search, he began scanning through all of the data on all flights that left New York within the last several hours.

None of them had gotten any sleep. They were all running on caffeine at this point, and there was no way that they’d take a break until Bruce was found.

It was right after dawn that Fury called. JARVIS announced the call and the team voiced in unison to ignore. When the AI said that it had to do with an emergency, Steve relented and asked that the call be put through.

Fury cut straight to the chase: the same aliens in yesterday’s invasion were back, and this time, they were angry. He didn’t mention anything about Bruce or Coulson. Tony wasn’t sure whether to be glad or angry about that.

Once they cut the call with the Director, Tony ordered JARVIS to keep the search going. It was time to assemble.

 

==

 

It was clear that the invading aliens had done their homework this time. Individually, they were not a force to be reckoned with, but there were hundreds of them, if not thousands. The five Avengers were slowly putting a dent in their numbers, but not nearly fast enough. 

“Stark, watch your back,” Clint’s voice came through over the radio. 

Tony turned in time to fire beams of energy from his hands at the three aliens that had been trying to sneak up on him. While he was turned, more aliens advanced and managed to land a powerful enough blow to knock him to the ground.

“Stark, you alright?” Steve’s voice sounded in his ear.

“Just peachy,” Tony answered with a grunt as he flipped himself onto his back. There was a group of enemies surrounding and piled on him. “A little help would be nice, though.”

“It might be a few. Can you…?” 

Tony was going to ask Clint to finish his thoughts, but never got a chance. Instead, a massive green arm swung forward, knocking back several of the aliens with the single blow. Tony looked up in time to see the Hulk let out a guttural roar before he tore the other enemies off of his suit.

The engineer let out a breathless laugh when the Hulk carefully grabbed him and put him back on his feet. “You have no idea how good it is to see you. Where the hell have you been?” he asked the goliath. Before a reply could be made, he cuffed the Hulk on the arm in welcome, and then jabbed his finger into his chest. “We seriously need to have a talk later, so don’t go running off.”

The Hulk simply snorted and looked around the battlefield. His expression grew wary as he glanced back down at Tony. “Suit?” he asked cautiously.

Tony’s expression darkened behind his mask. “Don’t you worry about him, Big Guy. You won’t be seeing Agent Coulson around again.”

With the reassurance, the tension the big guy was holding seemed to go slack with relief. 

Tony almost wanted to just stop and have their talk now, but they were being surrounded again. He fired up his repulsors and hovered at eye level with the Hulk. “Remember, no running away. We need to talk.”

“Hulk stay,” the goliath grunted in reply.

With a relieved grin, Tony returned his attention to the battle around them. With the Hulk by their side once more, the tide was quickly turned in their favor. The others offered cheers of welcome at the sight of their giant green teammate, and with renewed fervor, the battle soon ended.

True to his word, the Hulk didn’t take off once the fighting was over. The others quickly ran across the battlefield to where the Hulk was standing to welcome him back and offer profuse apologies for yesterday.

The Hulk seemed wary of the whole group at first, but slowly relaxed once he listened to them. He glanced over at Clint. “Not bully?” he asked with a hesitant tone.

Clint had never looked more apologetic in his life. “No,” he answered, his voice tight. “You are not a bully. I’m sorry I ever said it.”

A smile crossed the big guy’s face, and just like that, all of the weight on his shoulders vanished. A relieved and contented rumble sounded deep in his chest, and then suddenly he was shrinking down.

Bruce was already unconscious by the time the transformation was complete. He looked terrible, like he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in ages, which was probably true. The two transformations within a twenty-four hour period probably hadn’t done him much good, either. The team gingerly picked him up and took him home.

==

Of all the things he had expected to first notice when he finally woke up, he was not expecting the familiarity of his bed in the tower. He had no idea how long he had been out; he was just thankful for the dreamlessness of his sleep. It was a surprise to find his mind quiet, with the Hulk contentedly resting.

Bruce forced his eyes open and tried to push himself up into a seated position, hissing as his straining muscles protested.

 _“Good evening, Dr. Banner,”_ JARVIS greeted him. 

The physicist paused at the AI’s words. He swallowed roughly and stared down at the bedspread before him. “Hi, JARVIS.”

 _“You have been asleep for nearly eleven hours,”_ the AI explained as the windows brightened to reveal the sunny sky and cityscape. _“It is almost six in the evening, sir. The rest of your team has placed an order for several pizzas that are due to arrive in roughly seventeen minutes.”_

Bruce remained absolutely still for a moment, simply allowing everything that happened over the past few days to roll over in his head, interspersed with surreal images from the Hulk’s memory. 

_“Dr. Banner?”_

The physicist blinked from his thoughts. “Yeah?”

_“It is nice to have you back, sir.”_

A smile rose unbidden to his lips. Bruce ducked his head and tried to breathe around the sudden lump in his throat.

“Thanks, JARVIS.”

==

Bruce was in the middle of pulling on a sweater when there was a knock at the door to his suite. He heard the door open before he could say anything, which immediately gave away who his visitor was.

Sure enough, once he got the sweater on completely, he found Tony standing just in the doorway. The engineer had a serious look in his eye and an expression on his face that Bruce couldn’t even hope to decipher. They stayed like that for a moment, just watching each other.

Bruce cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair, still damp from the quick shower he had taken. “JARVIS, uh…mentioned there was pizza?”

A second later, after the question had sunken in, a bright smile appeared on Tony’s face. He stepped fully into the room, like he normally would have done without a moment’s hesitation. “You bet, Big Guy. Just arrived and everything, so it’s still fresh, and…”

Bruce listened to the other man ramble on for a moment longer. In the face of something that made the engineer uneasy or anxious, he tended to just talk. Something had happened while he was gone, and he wasn’t exactly sure what. 

“…and we’re all going to watch a movie or something, so you should totally come join us,” Tony continued. “Unless you wanted to go back to sleep, which is abso—”

“Who all is going to be there?” Bruce asked, and then instantly regretted it when Tony’s expression crumbled.

“Coulson won’t be, if that’s what you’re asking. He’s gone, and he’s not coming back,” Tony replied in a softer voice. Bruce immediately ducked his head, and Tony reached out and grabbed his shoulders. “Hey.” When the physicist slowly looked up, Tony pinned him with a look. “I don’t know all of what happened, but what he did to you was wrong. You’re not a threat, Bruce, and you are not a monster.”

“I could have killed him yesterday, Tony,” Bruce protested weakly.

“And if he hadn’t wound you up for the past three months, Big Green would have treated him like he treats any of us,” the engineer shot back. “You are not to be blamed for anything that’s happened. That’s all on Coulson…and on the rest of us, for not noticing.” 

The deep regret in Tony’s voice made Bruce’s chest tighten. “Tony…”

“So,” Tony continued, “will you come upstairs and eat pizza and watch a movie with us?”

The man’s eyes looked half-pleading. Bruce felt a smile tug at his lips. “Sure.”

Relief swept over the engineer’s face, and he suddenly pulled Bruce into a hug. Bruce let out a startled noise when the man’s arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace, and his own arms stayed in the air, not at all sure where to go.

“Thank you for coming back,” Tony said quietly into Bruce’s neck. 

Bruce immediately relaxed and returned the hug with as much strength as he could muster from his exhausted and aching frame. 

The pair stayed like that for a lingering moment before Tony carefully pulled away, but not before dragging one of Bruce’s arms over his shoulders. Bruce gratefully leaned against the engineer and they left the room.

“So where exactly did you end up going?” Tony asked once they were in the elevator. “And how did you get back so quickly? We all thought you were half-way to Grufunkastan or something.”

Bruce ducked his head again. “I, uh…didn’t exactly want to be found. I didn’t actually go to the airport; I was hoping that those internet searches would throw you guys off. I went down to the metro station last night, kind of, uh…fell asleep for a couple of hours on a subway bench, and missed my train to DC.” A bashful grin spread on his face when he felt Tony’s attempts to keep from laughing. “I was waiting for the next train when the aliens invaded again. I think my bag is still down at the station…”

The doors opened to reveal the communal floor. Clint, Steve, Natasha, and Thor were already spread out around the living room, pizza on paper plates and various beverages between them. 

Conversation stopped when the two scientists stepped off the elevator. When four pairs of eyes suddenly landed on him, Bruce had to fight to keep from ducking his head to avoid the looks. He gave in to the urge when they all stood to approach him.

He was surprised when a hand landed on his shoulder. The physicist looked up in time to see Clint pull him into a tight hug. The rest of the team quickly gathered in. Hands of support were laid upon Bruce’s back, and each of their voices rushed together. There was the firm declaration from Thor that he was a good man. There was Steve’s quietly reassuring voice saying that he was so sorry, and that something like this would never happen again. There was Clint’s apologetic voice, saying that he was not a bully. And then there was Natasha, who softly thanked him for not leaving and for coming back to them.

Tony broke them up with a reminder that the pizzas were getting cold and that there was a movie to be watched. They all returned to their places and Tony led Bruce to the empty cushion next to Clint. The archer offered a plate of veggie pizza and a can of non-caffeinated soda, which Bruce accepted with a grateful smile. Tony plopped down on Bruce’s other side with a plate of his own and asked JARVIS to start the film.

Bruce didn’t even bother paying attention to the movie. The tug of slumber pulled harder and harder the longer he was awake. Instead, he focused on what was around him. On the questions Thor or Steve would voice every now and then when something in the movie didn’t make sense. On Clint or Natasha patiently explaining everything. On Tony’s warm presence next to him.

He focused on how, for the first time in months, he felt like he was home.

The tightness in his shoulders loosened at the realization. A small contented smile tugged at his lips when the Hulk echoed his sentiments with a pleased-sounding grunt before returning to his slumber. 

As sleep came over him, that was all he could think about. He was safe.

He was home.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] BULLY!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1034475) by [The_Lady_smaell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Lady_smaell/pseuds/The_Lady_smaell)




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